Estonia is rolling out e-invoicing nation-wide. While sending e-invoices to the government is already mandatory, this is not yet the case between companies. However, Estonia has planned a few amendements which will effect e-invoicing for businesses.
Read more about the current situation in Estonia and how to send your first electronic invoice.
According to the Accounting Act all businesses who want to send invoices for goods or services to the Estonian government (B2G), must use e-invoicing. Receiving e-invoices, however, is only mandatory for public contract authorities. E-invoices to the government can be either in an Estonian XML-based standard or the European standard.
E-invoicing is not mandatory for Estonian businesses. For B2B (business to business) electronic invoices are only allowed after consent from the recipient.
The Accounting Act is undergoing change to include a B2B e-invoicing obligation as well. The proposed changes mean that customers can ask to receive e-invoices from their suppliers. It also proposes that the Estonian XML-standard should be excluded and only the European one allowed. It should also be possible for accounting entities to request e-invoices from other accounting organizations.
The initial implimentation was planned for 2024 but the draft legislation has not yet been approved. The amendments will likely not come into effect in the coming year.
There are several ways to send an e-invoice to Estonian government institutions or to a private company. Choose your option below.
There is no central platform for e-invoicing in Estonia. All suppliers must send their invoices directly to the relevant public administration. They can, however, choose their e-invoicing provider as long as it uses either the Estonian or European invoice standard. For the European standard, you can use Peppol.
To get started with e-invoicing, companies first need to register with the Center for Registries and Information Systems (RIK), which is part of the Ministry of Justice in Estonia. As an IT development center RIK manages the infrastructure to deliver electronic invoices to recipients in Estonia.
If you want to send invoices to a company in Estonia, you can use Peppol. It works for any type of business, from freelancers to large multinationals. It only takes a few minutes to register on a certified Peppol Access point and send your first e-invoice.
If you want to send invoices via Peppol you only have to register on an official Peppol Access Point.
Follow the steps below to register on the Billit Access Point and send your first invoice.
Peppol is a secure and closed network with many advantages:
The identity of everyone affiliated with the network is verified, so you can be sure that the invoices you receive are genuine, and you avoid invoice fraud.
The invoices you send through the network are completely digital, so you can process them automatically in your invoicing software.
E-invoices in the UBL standard are automatically read correctly. This prevents human error during processing.
Linking to your bank account means that outgoing and incoming invoices are automatically matched and you get a better overview of your company's financial situation.
Peppol is fast: your recipient will receive your invoice within 10 minutes of sending it. Combined with automatic processing, this will save a lot of time.
Peppol is an open network for securely sending and receiving business documents such as invoices. It is designed to simplify the purchase-to-pay process between governments and suppliers. Peppol was developed by the European commission but is on its way to become a global standard.
There are many kinds of identifiers for sending invoices via Peppol. Find out the difference between each option below.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| VAT (identification) number or VAT-id number | A unique identification number for entrepreneurs liable to VAT. It should be included on each invoice to customers. | EE100940196 |
| Business Register Number (CC) | The number to identify Estonian companies. | 11044101 |
